Professional Characteristics of Health Promotion: A Scoping Review of the German and International Literature.

Verena Biehl,Thomas Gerlinger,Frank Wieber

doi:10.3389/ijph.2021.1603993

Abstract

Objective: This scoping review investigates current developments in the professional characteristics of health promotion (HP) with a focus on the German speaking part of Europe. The conceptualization of HP is a prerequisite for progressing HP professionalization and clarifying the interconnectedness between HP and Public Health. Methods: The search strategy was informed by sociological professionalization theories. Original publications were included in a content-based analysis. Results: Ninety publications (37 original publications) were identified in the review. The results are summarized in categories based on professional characteristics: 1) profession, 2) ethics, 3) education/training 4) competencies, and 5) quality. The professionalization of HP regarding the professional characteristics is less developed in the German compared to the international literature. Conclusion: The mixed findings emphasize the relevance of a common HP conceptualization. The HP core competencies, which have been developed by the International Union for Health Promotion and Education must be further promoted. A strong HP workforce within Public Health strengthens the HP status in policy contexts and society and its contribution to promoting health and tackling social inequalities in health.

Highlights

In pursuing the overarching goal of preventing and managing health problems worldwide, health promotion (HP) offers valuable competencies that can contribute to political and societal efforts
As identification of professional characteristics represents a central building block to support the development of the HP profession, this study aims to provide an overview of the professional characteristics of the HP profession described in the literature
As the focus and content of the literature identified in the scoping review partly differed from the professional characteristics that have been outlined in the sociological theories, we specified and adapted the names of the categories as follows: 1) “Profession” summarizes literature focusing on HP as a profession including professional performance and professional identity; 2) “Ethics” summarizes literature regarding ethics and values of the HP profession; 3) “Education/training” summarizes literature describing training programs and study courses in HP; 4) “Competencies” was separated from 5) “Quality” as a category because there were numerous publications found which either dealt with competencies of HP professionals–or with analyzing quality standards of HP practice

Summary

Introduction

In pursuing the overarching goal of preventing and managing health problems worldwide, health promotion (HP) offers valuable competencies that can contribute to political and societal efforts. With its focus on socioenvironmental determinants of health at a community level as described in the Ottawa Charta in 1986, HP has the potential to promote health and well-being for all groups of society [1,2]. In line with this increasing recognition of the relevance of HP, the United Nations explicitly referred to it in the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 in goal 3: “Enable healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages” [3]. HP has come a long way since the 1980s, it is not wellestablished as a profession in our society yet, at least in the German speaking part of Europe [11,12,13,14,15]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion